Three little clocks sat in a row on the mantelpiece. The servant had put
them there to wash their faces, but they made believe they had come to
school. The tall grandfather clock from the hall was the teacher. The
servant had wheeled him in to sweep behind him, but he too made believe
he had come to school.
“Be sure,”said Grandfather Clock to his scholars, “that you tell the
right time. Everyone in the house looks to you for the time to get up,
the time to eat, the time to work, the time to play, and the time to
sleep. Is there any little clock here who cannot tell time? All you have
to do is to move your hands around your face. When it is time to strike
the hour, be sure your large hand is at twelve, and your small hand at
the hour. It is very easy.”
“Is it, indeed!” said the smallest clock; “how about it when people
forget to wind us up?”
“Yes, yes,” cried the other two little clocks, “how about that?”
“Silence,” cried Grandfather Clock, sternly; “that is a saucy way for
little clocks to talk.”
At this moment the servant began to wheel Grandfather Clock back into the
hall.
“School is out,” he said.
So that was the end of it.